Keeping time

[WoodBlues]

I'm struggling right now with keeping time and playing on time.

I find that I almost always accelerate or decelerate, I can't seem to find the groove and keep it.

Is this something every guitarist need to work on?

[GuitarDogs62]

Timing is important and a lot of folks needs a hand in this department. That is one of the main reasons to play and practice with a Metranome. The metranome will teach you to play in time. at a beat that you prefer. You will hear when your out of time and will be able to hear when your in time. You can buy one or download one for free. It's all up to you. to what you want to do.

[adamalltogether]

Agreed on the metronome, especially one that can emphasize different beats.
There are many available for download on smartphones!

Depending on what you are playing and having difficulty with rhythm on, a drum machine might be helpful too? Somewhere else on this forum there is a post from a teacher stating how much of difference it has made in his student's progression?

Are you finger picking or strumming?

[Themusicmaam]

You can get a free metronome by downloading Fender Free Amplitude app. I got it to use with IRig which you don't need to use the metronome.

[stanron]

Metronomes can become boring practice partners. A computer drum machine will be easier to hear and play to and can be more fun. One example with a free trial download can be found at

http://www.pcdrummer.com/

There's bound to be others. A sequencing program like cubase will allow you to write your own drum tracks as another alternative.

[Bingoccc]

Start your metronome or drum program; start your foot/feet tapping with it; start playing. Play at speeds both faster and slower than your normal pace. If your watching TV and there's music playing, tap your foot to it. If you listen to music on the radio or mp3 player, tap your foot to it. It will get easier with time.

[Ceabeceabe]

I am like you WoodBlues; if I don't pay attention I find myself speeding up or slowing down. So I go back to using a metronome for a while and speed gets corrected...for a while. As time goes on, fewer refresher courses are needed, but I find even brief ones are always helpful.

Also useful is using a metronome when learning a song. That way early on I associate a constant tempo with the song and can easier fall into the grove once the song is learned.

I am fascinated by English folk guitarist Martin Carthy. There's a guy that can play straight time in one song, complex time in another, and then pretty much play a song with no discernible time signature at all - going fast, slow, pausing, going fast, etc.

Curtis

[DupleMeter]

Get a metronome that allows you to place different sounds for beat 1 and also allows you turn off beats.

Start with a simple click with an emphasized click on beat 1 (so you always know where 1 is). Then when you feel really comfortable with that try taking away some of the clicks and see if you still land in time. Start with beat 4, so you get a silent beat 4, this should be the easiest to adjust to. Gauge how well you're landing on 1 without a beat 4 click. When you get that, then silence beat 2. Now how do you fare? Then silence beat 3, so you're just left beat a click on 1.

Do this for the tunes you are practicing and at different tempos to help you "memorize" where those tempos are. I also give my students a list of tempo markings that are standard to all mechanical metronomes so they are sure to hit those (not all of them, but enough of them to give them a sense of where different markings fall: 52, 60, 76, 88, 100, 112, 120, 132, 144)

I do this to all of my students and they all end up with incredible senses of time. But it can take a long time to get there. I always preface the entire thing with the blanket statement "humans do not keep perfect time. it ebbs and flows as our brains process the environment around us. This will be frustrating...but the frustration pays off big time in the end."

FWIW I recommend the BeatOn iApp for my students with iPhones. It handles this really nicely.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

…FWIW I recommend the BeatOn iApp for my students with iPhones. It handles this really nicely.

Hi DM...

I like BeatOn for simplicity, and Dr.Betotte (which simulates the big Dr. Boss metronomes) for more complex.

I would also like to find a decent drum machine for the iPhone/iPad. I've played with GarageBand, but you have to build loops, and sometimes I just want a simple combo metronome/drum machine.

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi DM...

I like BeatOn for simplicity, and Dr.Betotte (which simulates the big Dr. Boss metronomes) for more complex.

I would also like to find a decent drum machine for the iPhone/iPad. I've played with GarageBand, but you have to build loops, and sometimes I just want a simple combo metronome/drum machine.

I hear you...when you want to sit down to play you don't want to spend 20 minutes setting up a piece of software. I have to check out Dr.Betotte. Haven't seen that one.

[rick-slo]

More typically the lack of consistent timing comes from not having the material down stone cold. If you have to be thinking about where the fingers go next you will have a hard time being "in the music", and loss of phrasing and tempo may well follow. Any increased tenseness or mental distraction, such as the red light on the recorder, or playing in public when not used to playing in public, can do the same.

A metronome might help to steady your tempo, but not much if you don't know the material as explained above. If you use a metronome while playing certain exercises and certain types of music it can be useful to improve some technical issues, or it may at least reveal some of your technical deficiencies. As far developing a tighter rhymic ear using the metronome you need to play with the proper accenting, not just click, click, click... You also should play within the metronome (micro tempo variations) and outside the metronome (phrasing over more than one measure). Otherwise relying too much on the metronome and you may begin to sound mechanical and lifeless in your playing.

[mastercaster]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi DM...

I like BeatOn for simplicity, and Dr.Betotte (which simulates the big Dr. Boss metronomes) for more complex.

I would also like to find a decent drum machine for the iPhone/iPad. I've played with GarageBand, but you have to build loops, and sometimes I just want a simple combo metronome/drum machine.

DrumStudio is my favorite drum app. Limited on the amount of sounds but no other drum app compares on it's ease of programming beats. Feature rich and inexpensive.

http://www.rollerchimp.com/drumstudio/